Download Basis for Confidence

Todd R. Allen
2017
Interim Pastor
Epiphany
January 29,
4th Sunday after
“Basis for Confidence”
“The Story” : Chapter 16
Texts: 2 Kings 19:14-22, 32-33
Hebrews 13:1-4, 5-8
2 Kings 19:14-22, 32-33
14 Hezekiah
received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to
the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to
the LORD: “LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are
God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give
ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes,LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib
has sent to ridicule the living God.
17 “It
is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their
lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were
not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, LORD our God,
deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you
alone, LORD, are God.”
20 Then
Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the
God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of
Assyria. 21 This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him:
“‘Virgin Daughter Zion
despises you and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
32 “Therefore
this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,
declares the LORD.
Hebrews 13:1-4, 5-8
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality
to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without
knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them
in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. 5 Keep
your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because
God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”]
6 So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”
7 Remember
your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of
their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today
and forever.
As I kid, I often enjoyed watching episodes of Laurel and Hardy. Does anyone
remember them? They were two comedians who were always getting into trouble,
and they starred in dozens of films in the 1930’s. By the time I was a boy—and here’s
my attempt to prove how young I am!--they were showing up on TV. I’d laugh out
loud as they were chased by a tiger—or managed to spill a bucket paint all over
themselves, and there was a phrase one of them always said—in the midst of these
calamities—and it was this:
“Well, here’s another fine mess you’ve got me into…”
Sound familiar?
We do get ourselves into trouble at times, and other people also get us into trouble
too…it’s a fact of life that we make mistake, and the bad choices other people make
also affect us. There are consequences, if you like, for human behavior….
And here is the simplest introduction to what we find happening in Chapter 16 of “The
Story.” We enter again into the history of ancient Israel, and we return to a time
when the once great nation ruled by David and Solomon has become split into two
kingdoms, one in the North, called Israel, and the other in the South, called Judah.
Last week, we learned that this time in the history of God’s people was one of greed
and faithlessness —so much so that God sent a series of prophets—or messengers—to
warn both kingdoms that things could not continue as they were going or--at least—
they could not do so without dire consequences.
And what happened?
Well, here’s the sad result of all this: We read that both kingdoms continued in their
crooked ways, and they continued to do so as one prophet followed another; in fact,
historians tell us that God’s prophets were active in the Northern Kingdom—in the
Kingdom of Israel—for 208 years.
If you ever wonder if God is patient, friends, well here’s proof of this! I mean, how
many of us, as parents, will let our misbehaving child go on mis-behaving for 208
minutes, for instance? There should be consequences for such behavior, right?
There is a need to do some correcting, right?
Well, there is, and while I must caution us to ascribe to God too much in the way of
human thinking and actions, the writers of this part of our Bible are clear that after
208 years of trying to change the behavior of the Northern Kingdom, God has had
enough—that God is finished, as it were—with trying to plead—with trying to
persuade. And so, we read that God allows the nation of Assyria to invade the North
Kingdom and to take its people into exile. Ten whole tribes of Israel, we are told,
are soon spread throughout the Assyrian empire, never again to return back to their
homeland. They become “the lost tribes of Israel.”
There are consequences for human behavior.
There is still the Southern Kingdom, though—the Kingdom of Judah—the place where
the remaining two tribes of Israel reside, and our remaining focus will be here, today.
It is a Kingdom ruled by a series of kings who are either good—or bad. Sadly, we are
told that out of a total of 38 kings of Judah, only 5—yes, five!—of them do what is
right in the eyes of God. And we should also be quick to remember that the example
set by a king pretty much applies to the people they rule, as well, and so, there is a
lot of greed and corruption going on within the Judah—as a whole, when the writers
of the Bible tell us that the king did what was “evil in God’s sight.”
The reverse, though, holds true. One of these good kings is Hezekiah. And now, I
want to focus just on him.
What can we learn from him?
When the going gets tough, for instance, what does Hezekiah do?
What does he resist doing, as well?
Let us pray: Grant Lord God, that the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our
hearts, would both be acceptable in your holy sight, for you remain Our Rock and Our
Redeemer.
Amen.
Yes, there is Hezekiah, and we’ve just heard Nancy share a bit about him.
As I’ve already mentioned, today’s service is a delightfully different, as our 2106
Confirmation Class is joining in me in worship leadership. I hope I am correct in also
noting that this is the first time, in quite some time, that your Confirmands have done
this. May this be a re-start of a tradition, here at Trinity! And let me add that Dora
and I also very proud of these newest members of Trinity!
A bit of background: Beginning in September, of last year, these five young adults
came together to explore their faith in God—more specifically, them came together to
look at their faith critically, even to ask themselves if the Jesus they came come to
know—growing up within their families, and also within this church family—was the
same Jesus they saw now, at this point in their lives. A key tool in guiding our
discussions was this book, by Phil Yancey, entitled, “The Jesus I Never Knew.” This
book is a personal testimony by its author of how he came to know Jesus differently,
later in his life, and how he did so through a re-reading of Scripture and also a review
of motion pictures depicting the life of Christ. We met as a group into January of
this year. We watched film clips of the movies Phil Yancey watched. We also read
this book which also included historical information about the life of Jesus, and the
times he lived in. We read Scripture. We also spent time learning about the history
of the Presbyterian church—what we believe as Presbyterians—and how we do church,
so to speak, as Presbyterians….
But I lift up the different aspect of today’s service as a way to lift up one of the key
ingredients of being a person of faith: You and I are called to be different. We are
called—by God—to think differently—to act differently, too, and while there is no
moment when we should fail to follow this course of action, there is probably no
better witness to our faith then when the going gets tough.
It should come as no surprise to you, I am sure, that our young adults face a lot of
pressure to “fit in”—to be just like everyone else, and these pressures—which take a
whole host of forms—often force them to have to say “no”—to draw a line, in the
sand, to pull a phrase from last week….
These pressures make them one with Hezekiah, let me suggest, because—with them—
he is facing a critical decision. Outside the walls of Jerusalem resides a massive a
military force—the armies of Assyria, once again—a force of nearly 200,000 fighting
men, and the commander of that force—more to the point--is ridiculing the faith of
Hezekiah and the people. Hear his words:
“This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: ‘On what are you basing this
confidence of yours? You say that you have the counsel and the might for war—but
you speak only empty promises. On whom are you depending, that you rebel
against me?
I know you are depending on Egypt—that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces
the hand of everyone who leans upon it! Such is Pharaoh, King of Egypt, to all who
depend upon him!
But if you say, ‘we are depending on the Lord our God’, isn’t he the one whose high
places and altars Hezekiah removed?’ Furthermore, have I come to destroy this place
without word from the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country
and destroy it!”
There is much we can say about this declaration, but, to begin with, it is the taunt of
a bully—the kind of person we meet who forces us to make a choice about what we
believe—and what we should do in response to our beliefs.
And I use the term “bully” very deliberately, because I do not to downplay, but rather
to lift up, a very real reality faced by too many of young people, today. It is on
moments like these—experienced all too often—that spirits—and lives—are being
damaged, and often severely damaged, and here’s my point: When the going gets
tough, what does Hezekiah do?
He does three things:
First, He draws a line in the sand—he does. He knows what he is about, and so he
stands his ground. He does not change his beliefs about God, in particular….
Now, none of us is raised in a vacuum in matter so faith, and so the question begs:
How did Hezekiah come to have this faith—this truth? Well, the answer, quite simply,
is that he learned it from his parents—and from those around him. In this way, he is
no different from the young people you see before you, today: The first place we
learn about God in Jesus Christ, friends, is in our homes. As parents—as adults—you
and I are the first teachers of the faith—what Dora and I did—as co-teachers of these
Confirmands—was to build upon the foundation laid in your home, by the Spirit of God
—by the spirit of God filling your life, directing your thoughts—your words—your
actions—and, speaking personally, I think you all did a fantastic job because this is no
easy task. But you did not do this alone, I hope: I hope there was also the ministry of
this place, of the other faith communities of which you’ve been a part, down the
years—yes, if there ever was cause for saying “thank you” it must be, first to you, as
parents, as caring and concerned fellow believers—as a loving and supportive
community—because—when push comes to shove—our young people follow your lead—
they do: The line they draw in the sand comes from your example. And this is
what Hezekiah does here as king, he refuses to give into the taunts—to the ridicule….
I like how Connor Anderson put in his statement of faith (and I have been given
permission by our confirmands to share excerpts from the statements of faith they
wrote as part of this class and read before your Session). Connor wrote this of Jesus:
“I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
I believe that he taught the truth.”
A line in the sand…..
You know, you and I live in times when it seems like anything goes—in matters of
behavior, or belief—in fact, there is a great deal of relativism present in our time—the
idea that one truth is just as good as another. But this is not what Connor says here
—and this is not what Hezekiah, also believed, so many years before.
What is the truth—to us?
Is it the truth God gives us, through His son?
Or is there another source of truth—for us—for you and me—that guides our acitons—
our thoughts?
Which this leads me to lift up another point from that blustering Assyrian commander,
and here it is: He is quite sure of the truth that God sees things from the point of
view of the world. Let me say that again: He is quite sure that God sees things from
the point of view of the world…
His point of view is based on power politics. It is based on the agreement—surely
secured by massive payments in gold—that will see Egypt come to the aid of Israel,
should it be invaded. Such was the common practice of the day. If you were a
weaker nation—this was how the world worked. It was something you just did, if you
wanted to survive, much less to thrive.
And let’s face it: The world, as we know it, runs on a lot of “givens”, friends—it does:
There is the expectation that you and I will do this—or do that—in order to get ahead,
or simply to get by. And some of these expectations—these givens—have a lot going
for them: I mean there have to be some ground rules for how we live together. But
what happens when these rules come to fly in the face of what we believe—and hold
dear—about God—and about our faith in Christ?
An observation: It is hard being a prophet Being a messenger. Being a spokesperson
for God. It just is. If there is anything you and I can take away from the lives of
Elijah—Elisha—Amos—Hosea—and, today, the lives of Jeremiah and Isaiah—it is this:
They faced a tough crowd—they just did. They did not fit in, and—tougher still—God
asked them to continue to stick out like a sore thumb—so much so that the high and
mighty—the rich and the powerful—opposed them….even wanted to do away with
them.
Jesus followed in those footsteps. Thanks to the Phil Yancey book, our Confirmands
were reminded of how Jesus was like the fellow Jews of his day, but also—and just as
importantly—how he was not like them, when it came to the way the world worked:
“Jesus was Jewish and some Jews couldn’t believe the Messiah could come from
Nazareth”, Nancy Biegel writes in her statement of faith, “Jesus did not fit the
description of the Messiah that was expected…”
Well said, Nancy—Jesus did not fit in. And, you know, we can’t leave out your sister
now, can we? Here’s what Sophie Beigel added to this idea:
“The people who were considered outcasts liked Jesus, whereas the most respectable
people didn’t. I know that Jesus never looked down on anyone…”
How does the world work?
Well, then—as now—the rich and powerful do hold sway—they do—and there is also an
often unwritten code of conduct in society that marginalizes the poor—that pushes
those who are different to the margins.
How do we respond to this?
What does our faith require of us?
You know, you have to like admire Hezekiah—you just do.
Here he stands in the
most perilous of situations—remember that army poised just outside the city gates—
and we read that he does three things One, he stands his ground, and, now, two,
that he decides to do something different…
What do I mean?
Well, the normal thing to do would be to do two things: to either flee—as the king of
the Northern Kingdom had done when the Assyrians came calling, earlier—or to wait
for the Egyptians to show up and to join them in the expected great battle.
But this is not what Hezekiah does.
Again, what does our faith require of us?
Does it require that we blend in—or stick out?
Here’s an observation: I don’t think a single meeting of the Confirmation Class did not
feature some sharing about how hard it is when you stick out, especially as a
teenager, as a young adult…and so, as we read the Phil Yancey book together, all of
our young people were touched by the kind of life that Jesus had to lead, in order to
be true to his beliefs—to his mission:
“Jesus had to experience rejection, God forsaken-ness, pain, indignity, shame, and
death which shows great self-restraint because He could have ended much of it”
So writes Sophie—and thank you for sharing that—and let me say that very often,
friends, sticking out for others—and sticking up for others—is doing something truly
different, and doing something God expects us to do. It makes us kin with Jesus-and
also with Hezekiah, to return to our account in Second Kings, today. The King of
Judah will not deny his beliefs—and he will not pin his hopes on a foreign alliance,
either—he makes no plans to send his army out to fight in battle, as the Assyrians fully
expect, as besieged kings usually do….
No, Hezekiah does something different. And now—thirdly--he does something
incredibly powerful: He falls to his knees in prayer. He says the words that
Nancy lifted up for us, a few moments ago…
And let me say this about his prayer: Hezekiah knows that he has no claim to be
special—to deserve anything different than what has befallen the Northern Kingdom—
the fate of those fellow Jews who are now spread to the winds—he does not. There
is not a hint of self-righteousness in his prayer….
“I believe that Jesus came to earth to die for our sins.
I believe that the punishment for sin is death and that Jesus died on the cross to
suffer for our sins…”
Again, Connor cuts to the chase—and he does this at home, right Jim and Erica?—but
seriously friends, here, so succinctly said, is the basis for the humility we all should
have, friends—and surely the humility Hezekiah demonstrates today: Like us, he
knows that he—and the nation—have fallen far short—so far short, in fact, that it is
true that God is using the Assyrian armies as a means to execute justice for the
wrongs of Judah—of its people, or their king.
For the bar is set high—it is, for us. In our Confirmation Class we spent a good deal of
time on the Sermon on the Mount. We did so as Phil Yancey also finds it to be the
centerpiece of Jesus’ teachings—and here’s the take way, in the words of Sophie: “I
believe that when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, he knew we aren’t perfect,
but he wants us to try as hard as we can to rise to impossible ideals…”
God calls us to be different, and our failures to be different have consequences—here,
again, is the context for Hezekiah’s humility—indeed, the fact that bring him to his
knees, friends: He know how far short he—and the nation—have come, and he knows
that God—the holy God who has already sent the Northern Kingdom into exile is
equally justified in doing the same to them.
It is hard—is it not?—to know that the bar is set so high—that Jesus teaches us to do
things that do not come naturally—that even fly totally in the face of what is normal—
what is expected in terms of thought and behavior. To say that these young people
did not also share in feeling inadequate to the call—and to the commission—God gives
to them in Christ, would be an understatement--I think they even felt the distance
between the ideals of our faith, and the realities of the world around them even more
so, precisely because they are teenagers….because they are clear-eyed—and filled
with hearts that beat—and feel—so strongly…
Oh, is there a need for grace—for God’s forgiveness trough Christ?
Well, just ask them!
And if you ask them, friends, here is what they will also add to the equation:
“Jesus makes his home in my heart—I will never be alone because he has promised
me that we will never part. He came down to earth on a mission of love, and with a
mission of love…”
“With God in my life I can trust that I will never be alone—he holds me close in a
warm embrace and shields me form the world’s deceit…”
Thank you, Rachel—and thank you, Kristan—for these words—words from the heart—
and aren’t they words that touch us, too, friends? Words that get to the crux of the
matter? I think so—and here’s why: Yes, Hezekiah falls to his knees in prayer—and he
does so knowing that he—and the nation—do not deserve to be spared—but he also
trusts in the grace of God. How so? It is by the grace of God that Israel has
been delivered in the past, and, now, if this is God’s will, deliverance will come
again!
Because God does hold us in an embrace friends…..
God does love us…
God has died for us….
God has risen from the grave, for us….
Here are articles of faith—and here—especially when push comes to shove—is the basis
for our confidence,
Our Confidence that God has saved us, in Christ.
Our Confidence that we can make a difference in the world
And our Confidence that we can be the difference God wants us, to be, through His
grace and His power….
Nancy, you said it so well:
“Jesus makes a difference in my life. I’ve learned a lot throughout this Confirmation
Class--and I know I would like to become a member of this church.”
The vote was unanimous—no surprise, right?
I’ve called this message: “Basis for Confidence”.
Nancy, Sophie, Connor, Rachel and Kristan: Let me say that we have a basis for
confidence in the future of Trinity Presbyterian Church:
Because the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ to you is the same, today and always.
Because of the dedicated road you have traveled to this point in your lives
And because of the genuine commitment you have made to now continuing that
journey with all of here, in this special place.
Congratulations on all you have achieved!
May you bless us in with your God-given gifts!
And may we also bless you as our journey together continues!
And let all of God’s people say: Amen!!!